South Kansas City school districts discuss goals, focus for upcoming school year

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — We’re not quite in back to school mode yet — we’re still a couple weeks away — but every day we get a little closer.

On Monday night, a few dozen people heard from heard from three south Kansas City, Missouri, school districts about what they’re bringing to the table this year.

Grandview, Center, and Hickman Mills school districts were all sat at a panel at a South Kansas City Alliance meeting.

Each district has a lot in common, including one specific goal — boosting math and literacy scores.

“Super excited about our focus on math as well as literacy,” said Dr. Yolanda Cargile, the superintendent at the Center School District.

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Dr. Cargile, Dr. Prissy LeMay with Grandview, and Casey Klapmeyer with Hickman Mills say that’s one of the things their districts are zeroing in on

They had other big wins to share too.

“This year that retention rate was 89 percent,” Klapmeyer said.

He’s proud of the district’s teacher retention — which is up from losing about a quarter of teachers every year just a few years ago.

That consistency and built-up expertise is big for students.

Cargile says the district is already thinking about expanding summer school options after seeing the positives this year.

“And that is looking for alternative measures to provide support for students in the area of academics as well as behavior,” she said.

LeMay says Grandview is focusing in on STEM education.

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“Super excited about relaunching project ‘Lead The Way’ in grades three through five,” she said.

The three districts have had a busy summer planning for this upcoming year, but the overall message is that they’re excited to help students hit the ground running.

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